O'Connor resigns

[SuperJerk 0]

Well even if Roe v. Wade was overturned it wouldn't necessarily make abortion illegal, that issue would just go back to the states.  I imagine states like California and New York are still going to allow it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I live in Missouri, a state with an extremely powerful pro-life lobby. The politicians here will be having a Battle Royal for the chance to be the one to introduce the bill that outlaws it. Until, of course, the voters start kicking them out of office.

 

The reason I see humor in this is that I know the conservative's recent populist rhetoric is just for show. They only cite public opinion when it suits their interest (namely, to justify their opposition to liberal judges and gay marriage). Since every poll shows most people want abortions to be legal to some degree, their populist rhetoric will evaporate faster than an ice cube in the desert.

 

Plus, the major push from the religious right (or at least the mainstream of it) is moving away from a total abortion ban, which the public doesn't support.

 

Its just an act. This move was only because they were starting to believe that it would never be possible to get a total abortion ban. Once the Supreme Court has a majority conservative justices, they'll quickly revert to their "abortion is murder" rhetoric and move for its outlaw.

[Art Sandusky 0]

Hell, they totally outlawed pot again.

[SuperJerk 0]

That was actually the liberals' fault, though.

[SuperJerk 0]

Rehnquist is now saying they'll have to pry his dead rotting corpse off the bench.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/07/14/rehnquis...alth/index.html

[Justice 0]

Rehnquist rocks. Far and away my favorite judge on the bench.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

The Supreme Court didn't necessarily outlaw the fact that people can't smoke pot for medical purposes b/c they didn't rule California's "Compassionate Use Act" as unconstitutional. Instead, they just said that CA couldn't protect its citizens from being prosecuted by the federal government under the Illegal Substances Act for smoking it. However, considering the feds do arrest people for this stuff very rarely, I dunno what's gonna happen to those using it for medical purposes. I had a big problem with this ruling in the first place b/c unlike the 1942 Great Depression ruling (cited as a precedent) where a farmer couldn't grow an excess of wheat against government quotas, the government never showed how pot smoking in CA would hurt the federal government. In 1942 (which I believe is the year for this ruling) the government showed that having one farmer grow an excess of wheat could depress prices by as much as 40%, they used no such statistical data for that ruling.

 

I'm not totally convinced that the religious right is going to push for an outright ban on abortion for the court. They know that doing so would totally overplay their hand and actually hurt their cause. After all, why would they want to lose political influence in Congress/presidency which would imperil future Supreme Court appointments over Roe v. Wade? I'm not saying there aren't those who want Roe v. Wade overturned (b/c I personally don't although I support more restrictions) but I think the religious right would do themselves more harm than good in getting this case overturned in the future. The big fight over abortion is in the next Supreme Court term where a New Hampshire law requiring minors to notify their parents if they are having an abortion is going to be debated. This case is what the pro-life/pro-choice sides are gunning for right out of the gate b/c it'll show whether the new court favors more restriction on abortion or will still leave it open for discussion.

 

And Rehnquist does rock as far as I'm concerned. If he goes, though, either by dying or becoming incapacitated I wonder who will be the next Chief Justice. We all know Bush likes to be "first" with stuff...maybe Clarence Thomas? (Although THAT would inaugurate another big fight considering Thomas's 1992 nomination barely survived a 52-48 vote)

[Art Sandusky 0]

A guy at work last night said that Clarence Thomas is a model American.

[SuperJerk 0]

I'd think Scalia would get moved to Chief Justice. He's considered to have done more to distinguish himself than Thomas.

 

That'd cause a big fight as well, but it'd at least stick to the issues without dragging us into another debate over sexual harrassment.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

I only have hestitations about Scalia b/c he wrote the majority opinion that "gave" Bush the White House in the eyes of Democrats. I don't see why the Dems would wanna get into a big fight over the chief justice position b/c it's not like it's that important to the court as the chief justice still only gets one vote and the like. Seems like a waste of political capital for the Dems if you ask me.

 

Also, I don't think we'd get into the harrassment stuff against w/Thomas. Over 60% of the American public didn't believe Anita Hill and most have criticized the Dems for making that power play back when Thomas was confirmed. I don't think that'd work this time.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

The rest of the conservatives may lean to the right, but are independent thinkers who are following their gut instincts. I'll give them that.

 

Scalia is pure Republican hack. His comments in the land use case sealed it, although I can't remember the details.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Since every poll shows most people want abortions to be legal to some degree, their populist rhetoric will evaporate faster than an ice cube in the desert.

It'd have to be dry ice, because H2O doesn't sublimate.

[Stephen Joseph 0]

The rest of the conservatives may lean to the right, but are independent thinkers who are following their gut instincts. I'll give them that.

 

Scalia is pure Republican hack. His comments in the land use case sealed it, although I can't remember the details.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

you mean eminent domain, because that was the 4 liberal justice and stevens mucking it up...scalia was against it.

 

and i think we all agreed that kelo was bullshit, so scalia would be on the right side

[Jobber of the Week 0]

I guess it was the ten commandments then, that I was thinking about. Not eminent domain.

 

I just remember Thomas' comments giving the impression that he actually took the facts seriously, whereas Scalia's comments kind of read like he was already on the Republican Bandwagon for this issue.